Princess Felicia and Lovina the Pauper
by Minosu
Summary: Princess Felicia doesnt want to marry Prince Antonio, and Lovina hates working for Francis's Fabulous Finery Boutique. What happens when they switch lives? GenFlip. Mainly Spamano and GerIta, among other things. My first multi-chapter story!
1. Chapter 1

Felicia leaned out onto her balcony, sighing and dangerously close to crying. Her usually happy demeanor was diminished for some reason today. Why would that be?

Prince Antonio waved giddily at her from far, far below. Rainbows should have been popping out of him to emphasize his extreme joy. "I'll look forward to the wedding! Byeee~!" He shoulted to Felicia's father, while keeping his eyes upon Princess Felicia. Antonio was a childhood friend of Felicia, and was the heir to the throne to a neighboring kingdom.

But he was also the reason Felicia was currently so unhappy.

She let out a dissatisfied "Ve…" and ran into her chamber to cry again.

She did _not_ want to marry Antonio. Sure, she loved him, but only as a brother figure. Felicia loved _everyone_ in the same way that she loved the Spanish prince. She somehow felt that he wasn't the one for her.

Prehaps he had mistaken the multiple hugs and kisses on the cheek they'd exchanged through out their whole lives as love? Felicia presented _everyone_ she knew with these displays of affection. However, the prince _was_ pretty famous for being very dense. Sure, Prince Antonio had the most handsome looks out of everyone she knew, but he meant the same amount to her that _everyone _she was friends with meant. Though he didn't realize he was just like _everyone_ to her… She was waiting for the special _someone _who wasn't like _everyone._

Earlier today, Antonio had come to the Vargas Castle and asked Felicia's father, King Romulus, for Felicia's hand in marriage. Romulus, whom was equally dense as Prince Antonio, approved it and the two men decided who Felicia would marry and began planning the wedding.

All without Felicia's consent.

She wept and wept in her room, when the door opened all of a sudden and her close friend and servant, Keiko Honda, scrambled inside as she noticed Felicia's sobbing.

"F-feli-chan, please don't cry… a-ah…!" the flustered Japanese woman said as she tried to comfort her friend. Luckily, Keiko had known Felicia would be upset, and had taken precautions depending on exactly how upset she was. Keiko produced a bowl of fresh pasta.

Keiko was not a dense idiot like most of the people involved in Felicia's life. She had observed that Feli only considered Antonio as a friend, and that Antonio had a one-sided love for the princess.

When the bowl of spaghetti appeared, Felicia's tears vanished, though the girl was still obviously upset. "There, there. Felicia-chan… is there anything I can do…?" Keiko asked, knowing already that she could do nothing more than comfort the princess.

Felicia hiccupped before speaking and asking the most obvious thing. "S-stop the wedding?"

Keiko shook her head in dismay. There was nothing she could possibly do to stop the wedding. Romulus had his heart set, so there was no stopping him. She couldn't physically be an obstacle either… it could only get her put to death, and Felicia would end up married anyway if she did that, making Keiko's death meaningless.

Felicia resumed crying.

/

Lovina fought sleep ferociously. She had worked until very late last night; she could barely fight her tired lids from sliding down and dropping her into the world of dreams. She poked herself with a needle, as she'd done several times within the last minute.

The needle bit into her skin farther than usual, the pain provoking her to yelp loudly. "D-damnit!" she yelled.

The shop owner furiously flew into the room where her workers were doing their jobs of sewing and such. "_Lovinito! _Stop yelling, _mon ami_! You know the punishment if you make me too angry…" He winked suggestively. "If you cause trouble for my _magnifique _clothing store, I will cause _magnifque_ problems for your vital regions, _oui?"_

Narrowing her hazel eyes, Lovina frowned defiantly. "No way in hell will that happen."

"You _KNOW _that you work for me, right? You have such a large debt to pay and I can easily have you put to death for this large finance infidelity…?" He half growled and half yelled angrily, gripping the sides of her face in his hands a little too tightly.

"Francis, it isn't her debt, it is her mother's!" Bella cried out, to stop the girl from being either beaten or raped like many girls who had worked here before her. "She's young! She is probably going through a stage!" Bella was roughly a year older than the girl, but she always stuck up for those younger than her to her uncle, Francis.

"Little neice, her mother is dead now, and she owed me quite an amount. If _Lovinito _here doesn't pay for it, I'll have practically been _robbed!_" Francis let go of the Italian girl's face. "Oh! Look, more customers~!" Francis sang, mood almost instantly. He finally left to go wait on them and flirt with the women shopping at his store, _Francis's Fabulous Finery Boutique_.

Bella's distant cousin, Ludwig, had gone unnoticed until now. He sat in the corner working on nice shoes. "You shouldn't have talked back." He instructed Lovina.

"Like I want your advice, Potato Bastard." She grumbled and went back to work.

/

That morning, Princess Felicia woke early, still moping. Only a few people noticed that she was down, because everyone else was either too oblivious or too excited about the wedding to notice Felicia's out of character behavior.

Felicia was now keeping a different plate of pasta with her at all times to ensure that she didn't burst out crying in front of everyone. Keiko approached her. "Feli-chan, you can't possibly eat pasta at all times… you'll run into health issues, and I do not wish to see that happen to you…" Keiko was mentally hurting herself for giving Felicia the pasta in the first place. She was too much of a masochist.

The princess nodded her head in her small, depressed way, and sat down the plate of fettuccini. As she did so, King Romulus fluttered around the corner.

"Felicia, dear, great news~! You're going shopping in town today for your wedding dress! Isn't that fabulous~!" He sang, and disappeared around the corner again.

Now, normally Felicia would dance at the word 'shopping', but because she was acting so uncharacteristically, she stayed in her gloom and accepted the fact that she was going shopping without enthusiasm.

Little did she know that today she'd find the key to her freedom.

/

This pretty much follows the storyline of 'prince and the pauper' only with Hetalia.

Belle is equal to Belgium. I just felt like making her Francis's neice to help the story along.

Please be nice; this is my first multi-chapter, 'kay?


	2. Chapter 2

Lovina sat in the sewing room, grumbling insults about 'the wino bastard' as she worked. The other two workers had become immune to Lovina's vocabulary through excessive exposure. In other words, she did it so often that they'd learned to ignore it.

"Lovina, he really isn't that bad…" Belle began, trying to smooth the rough relationship between her co-worker and her uncle.

The enraged Italian gave her a Look. A vicious Look that clearly stated her thoughts. It said _Say anything that puts that bastard in a good light and I will kill you._ Belle shut up instantly. She didn't have any good points to share about Uncle Francis anyway.

Outside in the shopping area of the store, the bell rang, signaling that some customers had arrived. The three clothesmakers heard Francis jovially talk to a customer. "Myyy, aren't you so pretty? Wow she is absolutely _GORGEOUS! _Unlike anything I've seen before!" The Frenchman marveled at a customer's looks.

A woman's voice from out there sounded. "…Francis-san, we are here to buy a wedding dress for her. I would appreciate it if you didn't flirt with the bride-to-be."

Francis choked a bit, and then chuckled. "Of course _mademoiselle_… Bella, dearest, could you come out here with some fabric so we can get started?"

The said girl jogged out with about then full bolts of fabric. When she saw the shoppers, she gasped and turned to Lovina to smile really widely for some unknown reason. She then almost tripped, sighing about her clumsiness. "Mein Gott… I'm so sorry!"

Lovina rolled her eyes. Belle was quite an idiot for smiling at her that way, in Lovina's opinion. Especially for apologizing for tripping, even after that stupid smile. What was that smile even about? Eh, it's not like she cared anyway. She turned around and saw Ludwig looking at her.

"What do you want, potato bastard?"

He turned back to his work. In the meantime, more talking was in the main room.

"Well, _mon ami,_ shall we get to work?"

"T-this material is so delicate… I'll probably do it wrong!" Bella murmured, upset.

"I'm sure you will do well, _mon amour_."

"N-no, Lovina is a much better seamstress than I am...! She can do it!"

"Ah, fine… get her out here."

Bella practically bunny-hopped into the sewing room, and winked at Lovina as she went around the corner with that smile again. Lovina didn't know what that smile and wink was for, but was growing more and more curious. Why was she winking? Did she have something stuck in her eye?

She then walked into the main room to see a girl that looked exactly like her.

/

All Felicia could do when she saw the other girl was stare. Wow, this girl sure looked familiar… Felicia couldn't place where she'd seen this girl before, but it was recent.

As the shop keeper left the room to get some pattern books, it got awkward as the three women in the room were deathly silent.

Felicia, then, was the first one to speak. "Wow~! You're pretty~! Have we met before?"

The girl looked at Felicia as if to say _you're an idiot_. The seamstress stayed silent, but had an eyebrow risen. The awkward silence firmly stayed in place, refusing to leave. Felicia tried again. "What's your name~?"

At this, she finally answered. "Lovina. My name is Lovina."

This is when Felicia noticed where she'd seen Lovina before; within herself. "Oh my gosh! We look exactly alike!" She had a grin that spread from ear to ear.

Lovina sighed at Felicia's stupidity to take so long to realize it. Francis came into the room with a few books, opened one, and handed it to Princess Felicia. "What do you think about this?" He asked.

Felicia squinted at the page. "Hmm~. Ve, Lovina? What does 'intercourse' mean?"

Lovina blushed horribly and snapped the book shut immediately. "Wrong book, bastard." She growled, glaring at Francis.

"Ve~? Why is everyone's faces so red?"

Keiko, whom was also blushing, broke the silence. "Ano… Felicia-san, perhaps I'll inform you later…"

"Is it fun?" she asked dazily

Francis's face immediately produced a wolf grin. "Ohoho, _mon amour_, if you'd like to experience it with m-"

He was cut off by Lovina hitting him in the face with the book. "Urgh… wino bastard." She muttured, still heavily blushing. "Can we get something accomplished?"

Keiko sighed. "My thoughts exactly…"

They began to sew up a dress pattern and decided that Felicia was going to need some shoes to go along with the dress. "Hey, POTATO BASTARD!" Lovina shouted into the workroom.

"Aw, that's not a very nice name…" Felicia whimpered. Ludwig came around the corner, with a few pairs of shoes in his hands. He crouched down low before Felicia and bowed before trying some pairs of shoes on her feet.

He looked in Lovina's direction. "Its Ludwig. Not potato bastard, despite common belief."

Felicia blushed, for this man seemed so polite and nice and serene. Who was he? Where was he from? How had he lived his life to date? Many questions came to her mind as he appeared. She wanted to know him really, really badly. "Cool! I'm Felicia~!" She gave him a super-tight hug. Whatever was left of her dark mood was now completely eliminated. She seemed to fully forget that she was to be married off.

Ludwig also blushed, quite badly. He measured her feet to see how large shoes he had to make. Felicia's heart pumped faster as he touched her skin, and she felt an electric charge, a sort of magnetism. He felt all the blood rush to his face.

He finished and quickly left the room.

/

It was beginning to get dark outside, Felicia decided it was time to take her leave. The dress would be made and sent to the castle. "Its dark out! Byeee! Can't wait to see the dress!"

Keiko facepalmed. "Felicia-san, you do not wish to go back to the castle, do you?"

"Huh?"

"Don't you see? You don't have to get married!"

"What do you…?"

Keiko all but gave up on convincing Felicia. She turned to Lovina. "Do you wish to remain here?"

"Pfft. Hell no!"

"And would you rather be in a castle or something to where you'd not work at this place?"

Lovina looked at her like she was nuts. "Sure?"

"You and Felicia-san can switch places!"

Both girls looked at each other. Felicia bounced up and down, ponytail flopping every which-way as she did so. "That sounds amazing~! I'd get to stay here with Ludwig~!"

Lovina now stared approvingly at Keiko. "That is just crazy enough to work. I'm in."

And so it began.

/x/

I don't know why, but I love the name Keiko for female Kiku. Does it sound okay? Good.


	3. Chapter 3

In a dressing room, the three women stood, doing their best to switch Lovina and Felicia.

"Are you absolutely sure this will work?" Lovina asked as she removed her headband and shoved her hair into a high ponytail to match what Princess Felicia had, as Felicia did likewise.

Keiko nodded. " I am almost positive… and it shall work out well for you both, yes?"

Felicia bounced happily. "Lovi~? What can you tell me about Ludwig?"

Lovina choked a bit when she heard the nickname. "L-lovi? Who said you could call me Lovi?" She saw a disappointed look cross the princess's face. "Okay, okay! You can! Fine! Ludwig? He's just a damn potato bastard. Nothing interesting to tell about the dumbass." She said as they switched dresses.

"Ve~! He's cute!"

Keiko bidded farewell to the princess. "Don't tell anyone you aren't Lovina-san, okay?" she warned. "It could put us all in danger."

"Sure! I'll miss you, kay? Come visit me!"

Keiko and Lovina got into the carriage to the castle. "Lovina-san, you must do your best to act as if you were Felicia-chan. It would be obvious that you are not who you claim to be if you acted wrong.

Lovina flinched. "Act like that _idiot?_ Are you dumb? Who'd want to act like _that?"_

Keiko sighed. She'd known by looking at her that Lovina would be a difficult one._ "_Someone who does not wish to die for impersonating a princess."

"F-fine! But don't expect me to act like that in private, damnit!" Lovina pouted. She'd figured there'd be some sort of catch… at least it was a minor one, such as acting like a complete dope. It hurt her pride, sure, Lovina had a very prideful personality. She didn't exactly want to have it hurt in front of the world, but she wasn't fond of dying, either.

She rode the rest of the way to the castle in silence, as Keiko told her Felicia's mannerisms, how to use them, and who to use these with.

/

Though Prince Antonio and Princess Felicia were considered childhood friends, that was the only time they'd known each other; childhood. He hadn't seen her since he was ten, up until yesterday when she'd been on her balcony. The truth was, he hadn't even talked to her in eight years.

But when he'd seen her yesterday, she was every bit as cute as he'd remembered! He twirled in little circles talking to his pet turtle. "She seems so grown up now! Haha! I can't wait to marry her~!" He giggled, childlike. "But… do you think I'm moving a bit too fast?" He asked the creature. All it did was blink, which Antonio, who was ever the optimist, took as a positive answer. He twirled some more before collapsing on his bed.

"Ah, well it doesn't matter much, right? I'm having a few dates with her before we marry, so she won't have any problems with it, right?"

The turtle was asleep. The happy-go-lucky prince decided to join it in a siesta.

/

Manners, manners, all these goddamn manners! Lovina hated it! Most of the people here were such _idiots!_ If she had to curtsy to ONE more of these dopes, she'd scream! All the while, she kept a pleasant smile on her face, and acted as if she were one of these idiot royals.

Damnit. One of those idiots was approaching her. He looked like he wanted to talk. Ugh.

"Feli, dear~! More great news~!"

She internally grimaced, but kept up her act as a brainless dumbass. "Ve? Daddy?" She asked with a sickeningly innocent voice.

"In two days, you're going on a date with Prince Antonio!" He sat there happily, chanting "heraherahera~" and waited for her reply.

"Uh… sure!" she chirped with the voice that didn't belong to her and left, scowling as she walked away.

/

However difficult and irritating things were for Lovina, whom was pretending to be Felicia, they were much harder on Felicia, whom was pretending to be Lovina.

The young princess was quite used to an easy life and found getting up early every day to sew until dark extremely dismal. It was a great thing that Francis didn't check on his workers too often, for if he did, he'd easily be able to tell the difference between Lovina and Felicia. Felicia was doing her best to act like Lovina, but she didn't know how to curse, and her mannerisms were much more feminine and sweet.

"Bella, sweetie, come out here please?" Francis called his niece.

Bella gave the other two an apologetic look and left the room. Ludwig turned to her.

"Felicia…?"

"Hmm~? Ve, do you need something~?" She replied before realizing that it blew her cover as Lovina. She opened her chocolate eyes and slapped her hand over her mouth.

"No, it's okay, really. I won't tell anyone." He blushed a light peony color. "I-I was just making sure." He quietly returned to his large pile of size seven shoes, all made with one girl in his mind.

She tackle hugged him. "Oh, thank you Ludwig! Thankyouthankyouthankyou! How did you know I wasn't Lovi?"

"For one thing, you're much nicer to me. I haven't heard one 'potato bastard' all day. A-and the other…" He said in his monotone voice. Ludwig's face, once peony, now blushed scarlet. "…y-your breasts are much bigger."

She was practically strangling him with her hug. He didn't really care, other than the fact that she was in his personal space bubble. He just looked uncomfortable, yet happy.

/x/

Poor Lovi! She has to be NICE! On PURPOSE!

The last two paragraphs were added as comic relief. (=


	4. Chapter 4

Lovina sat in Felicia's quarters, marveling at the size of her bedroom, as she'd done every time she'd come into it. "Wow… this bed alone is bigger than my entire _workroom…_" She turned to Keiko. "Is your room like this too?" She asked, with awe and slight jealousy.

"No, I live in town. My home is quite small."

"I hate big houses. There's no need for so much damn space. The more space there is, the more goddamn empty it feels." She went on.

A knock at the bedroom door ended their conversation. A royal page entered the room. "Princess Felicia, you are summoned downstairs." Lovina stood up and walked out, Keiko by her side as the Princess's royal advisor should. They decended down the stairs, to the Courtroom. As she swung open the huge maple door, she saw someone standing inside, someone she didn't recognize. He turned to her and smiled, as if she _really_ should know who he was. Lovina turned to Keiko, and gave her a look that said 'Who is that?'. Keiko's returning glance had the same message. _We're so screwed… _Lovina thought.

King Romulus welcomed her into the room. "Come in, sweetie. Felicia, I'm not sure if you remember him, but he's your friend; Prince Antonio." Romulus smiled dizzily, as if expecting the two teenagers to explode and declare their undying love for eachother right then and there.

Beside Lovina, Keiko gave a little noise like "Ohh!" and bowed until she was almost an inch from the ground.

Oh shit. Now the prince was wearing the same expectant grin as the king had. Confused as hell, Lovina bowed as Keiko did.

Both royal men burst out laughing. Lovina stood straight again, blushing. "She always loved joking" King Romulus said as the laughter died down.

Antonio approached her, and bowed as if mocking her as he neared, which sent Romulus into another laughing fit.

Oh god. Now Lovina remembered something. Wasn't Felicia in her sewing shop to buy… a wedding dress? Oh holy shit. That's when it hit Lovina; by switching places with Felicia, she'd agreed to marry this _dope?_ How the hell could she have forgotten that detail when she agreed to this?

Lovina left the room and ran outside, hot-faced.

Antonio almost ran after. He joined her in the setting sun. "Hi! I'm Antonio!"

She irritatedly looked up, letting her true emotions show this time instead of substituting them for Felicia's. "Bastard." She regarded him.

"But you can call me Toni, or Tonio, or Nio, or Anto…" He said, unfazed by her dubbing him with a curse word.

"You can call me Lovi-" She cut off, before saying her real name. "Er… Felicia. Yeah." She hoped to God that he didn't hear her say the first part.

"Lovi? What a cute nickname!" Shit. He'd heard it. He grinned.

"F-forget that!" she half-commanded him.

"Aww, but Lovi's such a cute nickname! I'll call you that from now on!" he sang, disregarding her objections.

"Damnit…" she whispered to herself.

He poked her cheek. "Huh? What'd ja say?" She didn't answer, so he kept on poking her face. Repeatedly.

"D-damnit, Antonio! Are you _always _this annoying?" She fumed.

It didn't even take a second for him to reply. "Yes." At seeing that this upset her, he changed his answer. "_Lo siento! _But I can try to be less annoying for you, _si_?" He took a tomato out of his pocket and began to munch on it during Lovina's awkward silence.

Lovina stared. "…is that a tomato?"

Antonio blinked, before nodding his head. "Yeah! You like tomatoes?" He gave her a smile that shined like the sun before handing her another red fruit from his pocket.

After they finished their tomatoes they sat, watching the sun decend, and she turned to him. "…you're still a bastard. Just a bastard with good taste."

"…I know." He said, smiling still.

/

Felicia sat in the cold workroom, happiness banishing the feelings of freezing that should have overcome her. Sitting near Ludwig for some reason warmed things up and made the uncomfortable things acceptable. She hummed joyfully as she stitched together another dress.

Bella had retired early that night, already getting her stack done.

"Um… Felicia?" Ludwig asked.

"Ve~? Ludwig?"

"Are you cold?" he asked, keeping his eyes on his shoemaking.

"It is really cold in here, yeah. I wish I had some pasta to warm it up in he-" She ceased talking when Ludwig removed his jacket and draped it across her shoulders, not once removing his gaze from his work.

"Aw~! Ludwig is so nice~!" She slung her arms around him tightly.

"F-felicia, I'm going to bed now… goodnight." He blushed and ducked out from her hug. Before he got away completely, he swiftly planted a kiss on her mouth before he ran up the stairs, his face burning in a crimson blush.

Felicia smiled and went back to sewing, feeling as if she could fly. She touched her lips, where his had brushed, blushing a bit herself.

That all stopped when she heard dark laughter behind her. Francis stepped out of the shadows. "_Princess _Felicia? Ohoho, what a cute little coincidence…"

/x/

I know, almost the whole thing was Lovina's point of view. Hopefully Giripan in an upcoming chapter makes up for the lack of Felicia?

I'm sorry to all fans of Francis, for making him the bad guy ^~^; I couldn't think of anyone better to fill this role than him.

I might take awhile to update because Summer Drivers Ed is consuming all of my time. Ugh. And I thought school had ended.


	5. Chapter 5

It was almost midnight in the castle, and Lovina had never been more thirsty in her whole life. Tiptoeing down the magnificent hallway, she silently slid past Felicia's parent's room. She stopped cold when she heard a loud crash.

"Romulus! I can't take this anymore! Why can't you just be _faithful_?" The queen screeched.

"Dear…! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to stray! Please, settle down! You'll wake-

She refused to calm down, continuing her rage. "How many kids do you even _have?_ It is SICKENING! THREE indirect children, Romulus! _THREE!_! And one with another ROYAL woman! I got a letter today, you ass! It claimed a pedigree!" She threw another glass object, which shattered. "Do you _know_ how embarrassing it is to have this kind of thing happen?"

He made a small murmur that Lovina could not decipher. The queen, however, heard it. She practically exploded. "_FOUR!_" She shrieked "WHO? WHEN?"

"I-it was seventeen years ago… a seamstress… I d-don't remember her name, but I got a notice when the child was born." He said, lightly as possible.

Outside the door, Lovina tensed. Seamstress. Seventeen years ago. And there was a child. Though Lovina didn't care much about her childhood, one detail now loomed above all the others; she'd never known, nor heard, anything about her father.

/

Felicia wasn't sure where Francis was taking her. All she knew was that it was almost dawn, for there was light peeking through the sides of her blindfold. In her struggle to the carriage, Ludwig's jacket had fallen off, other than one of the sleeve cuffs, which had ripped. Felicia held a deathgrip on the little piece of cloth as she was tossed out of the carriage and tied to… something.

She heard sinister laughing as her arms were bound to a tree. "_Mon peteit tresor, _I'll be back at sundown. Don't move from this spot~!" He laughed evilly again as he boarded the carriage and clamored off.

Felicia felt her eyes prickle, before soaking the cloth around her eyes with fearful crying. "Whats gonna happen to meee?" She sobbed into the silent forest. She went on like this for a long time before stopped, out of tears to cry. "I've escaped one guy only to get captured by another…." She leaned her head against the tree trunk in despair, and felt Lovina's headband fall off. "Noooo! Lovi'll be so mad if I lose it… if I ever get to see her again…"

In the sad state Felicia was in, seeing Lovina try to slaughter her over the missing headband would be comforting to the kidnapped princess. She wanted to get away from Francis to a huge extent, even more than she'd wanted to get away from marrying Antonio! She wriggled her hands around, trying to find the lost headband. It was convinently wedged into the rope that bound her hands. She wiggled some more, the head accessory helping her untie her hands. Soon, she was free.

"Ah, much better!" She exclaimed, now that her hands weren't being chaffed by ropeburn. Felicia sat down again, waiting for scary Francis, as he'd told her to do. It took about an hour to register in her brain that she was no longer captured.

"Hmm~ so this means I'm free now, right!" She sang as she merrily skipped into the direction of town.

/

Keiko missed Felicia tremendously. Walking into the dress shop to view progress on the wedding dress should be a valid excuse, right? She was worried about the princess, and Keiko _promised_ she would visit, so there was no way around coming eventually.

The shop owner came in. Blowing a meaningless kiss at Keiko, he inquired. "What are you doing here, _mademoiselle? _Can I interest you in a party dress? That azure one over there suits yo-"

"I've come to see the princess's dress and how much has been finished thusfar." She interrupted, crushing Francis's hopes of helping her undress and fit her into some clothes.

"I regret to be the one to inform you of this, but the ungrateful seamstress I'd had working on the dress is not here anymore. She… uh… ran away this morning." He said, smiling, as if he had a secret. "Such sad news, _non_?"

Keiko felt as if she'd been struck. _Where could Felicia-chan be? This is so unlike her…_ Hiding her panicked emotions, Keiko bowed. "…Ah. I will return soon to see if it is done…" She left, probably quiker than she should have, and nearly ran home.

Shutting the door behind her carefully, she tiptoed into her miniscule apartment where her friend was most likely asleep. It was a rare occurrence to find him awake. This was one of those elusive times. As she entered, one of their many cats pounced on Keiko's shoe and nuzzled her leg, greeting her. She glanced up and seen her friend walking around.

"Keiko, you alright?" He mumbled, the fact that he had only recently awoken obvious, already knowing telepathically that something had upset her.

She practically fell into his arms. "Heracles-kun…! Felicia-chan… she ran away from the dress shop…! I have absolutely no idea where she could have gone…!"

Heracles sighed, as he had many times before. "Its fine if you call me just Heracles, you know. We don't really need formalities." He said, as he hugged her tight. "Think about Felicia. What is her _favorite_ thing in the world?"

"Pasta." Keiko muttered without hesitation.

He nodded. "And where do you find pasta?"

"A pasta shop! Oh, Heracles-kun! Thank you!" She said, dashing out the door, with him following behind to the nearest pasta restaurants to look for the Italian girl, With Heracles thinking an amused thought…_ What, does she think I'm the oracle of Delphi or something? To ask questions with such formality?_

_/x/_

_ Alright! First update in awhile, and more to come! I was gonna include a little piece with Ludwig's point of view, but I ran outta room. _

_ Romulus's five kids include as follows; Felicia, Lovina (As you hereby have learned), Sicily (Whom I may or may not personify in this fic. Time will tell.) and the fourth one is a surprise, which will show up later for sure! _


	6. Chapter 6

Felicia wearily collapsed on a bench. She'd been walking to town since noon, and it was now dusk, the fragrant scent of the moon floating into the sky. "Owieee~! My feet are _throbbing~! _ And now I'm hungry…!" She looked around herself for somewhere to eat at…_there! _A pasta place! She'd been craving pasta even stronger than the usual addiction recently, because Francis was cheap and didn't pay for the more delicious foods. All he cooked was Gourmet Snails and Mushroom Ala King, which was not at all to Felicia's liking. Bounding over to the ordering counter, she ordered her food.

"Hi~! I'd like some ravioli, and some linguine on the side!"

The clerk looked at her skeptically. "And how are you going to pay for that?" She looked absolutely rugged, with forest twigs sticking out of her messy hair, her dirty, slightly torn dress, and her sweat-glossed skin.

Felicia grabbed her ears and felt around them. Aha! She pulled off a silver earring. "Here ya go! Will this cover it?" Her innocent voice sang.

He gaped for several minutes. The clerk certainly did not see that coming. "OH! Yes! But… this is worth _five _bowls of pasta…!"

She laughed giddily. "Good~! I'll also have some Angel Hair, Lasangne, and some gelato!" She skipped to her table and awaited her food.

/

Keiko was walking around the city's humongous restaurant district, keeping her eyes open for a certain redhead. Heracles observed this, walking at pace with her. She was adorable when she was flustered, with her ivory face tinted with a rozen color. She walked with a skip in her step, the only way to see her anxiety. Yes, Heracles adored her in her troubled state, but took careful timing when provoking it. "Is that her?" He asked in his deep voice, gesturing to a girl who had not one, but several half-eaten dishes of noodles before her.

Blinking, the Japanese woman turned her gaze to find the girl Heracles had pointed out. The girl found Keiko before Keiko had time to find her. "KEIKOOOOOO!" The girl squealed happily, enclosing her small frame in a tackle-hug. _Yes, that was her._ Heracles noted to himself.

"F-felicia-chan! I seem to be unable to breathe…!" Making happy little 've' noises, Felicia released Keiko from her grasp.

The girl took this time to notice Heracles. She began laughing. "Keiko, I why didn't you tell me you had a boyfriend~?" At these words, Keiko, in her polite-but-flustered flush, stammered, trying to convince Felicia that it wasn't what she thought it was.

Felicia nodded, obviously not caring that about Keiko's denial, and went to get a box for the rest of her uneaten pasta

Taking this opportunity, Hera wrapped his arms around her, and whispered into her ear. "Why don't we make it what she thinks it is?" He chuckled as she hid farther into her sleeve, but he could see that she was smiling. She brushed off her emotions as Felicia returned, and asked "Where did you go to, Felicia-chan? Francis-san said you ran away!"

"Ve~ of course I did! Who wouldn't run away when you're tied up in a forest?"

"What? So you weren't staying anywhere?" Heracles asked, interested.

"Well, Francis said he'd come back at sundown…"

Looking to Heracles for help, Keiko said "So you don't have anywhere to stay?"

Hera yawned. "She could stay with us for awhile, I guess." He yawned, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. He really didn't care one way or another.

"Ve~ Keiko, your boyfriend is falling asleep!"

She momentarily chose to ignore that. "It is quite late, I suppose we'd better get home…" She stated, smirking slightly.

The trio marched home in the gathering twilight.

/

Ludwig was concerned, to say the very least. When he'd gotten up and gone to the workroom today, Felicia was not there. That was not a good sign. Knowing Felicia, she could have accidentally found a portal to Oz, and was baking biscotti for the munchkins at that moment. She could be square dancing with pirates. She could be skydiving off of a cliff, with a backpack full of pie instead of a parachute. He could see himself questioning her on the reason there was pie instead of something useful, and she'd say something like "Because pie is delicious, silly! I might get hungry on the way down!"

He'd asked Francis if he knew, and he'd brushed it off, smiling as if he actually _did_ know something.

He was freaking out.

Ludwig never freaked out. It only escalated when he found the jacket he'd given her spread on the ground, torn.

What if there was a robbery, and Felicia was hostage, and it was all his fault for not being there? Oh, it was all his fault! What if she's hurt and-

_Smack!_ Ludwig slapped himself, regaining what sanity he had before, and got back to work, still quite afraid for Felicia's well being.

/

Lovina continued her voyage down the hallway to get her drink of water. She'd be damned if she didn't get one before the end of tonight. She paced down the stairs, not caring if anyone heard her, but still self-consciously keeping quiet. She turned the last corner to go to the kitchen, when someone grabbed her wrist and pulled her in.

"AHH-mmmf!" Lovina screamed.

"Shh! Lovi, it's just me!" Antonio whispered, removing his hand from her mouth, but leaving the one on her wrist in place. He chuckled. "Did I scare you?"

"What're you doing, bastard?" She fumed, semi-glaring at her forced fiancé, whom glanced up sheepishly, ignoring the question.

They were sitting close. So close, he could probably smell her shampoo that she'd used earlier. Her hair was down, falling around her face. He took notice of this. "Your hair looks really good down. Why's this piece sticking up?"

"H-hey! Don't touch thaa-" He grabbed it anyway. "D-d-damnitt…" She was now dizzy as hell and immobilized. Blushing and brain numb, she burrowed into Antonio's chest.

"Aww! Isn't that cute~!" He returned the hug, oblivious to her internal suffering. She felt like a caged animal. Not knowing what to do with the energy generated by her haircurl, she did the only thing she could; kissed him. Finally, he removed his hand from the curl, and cupped her face in his hands.

The one who broke the kiss was him, when he noticed that she was shivering. "You cold, Lovi?" She kept her mouth shut, afraid of what she might say. Picking her up, he carried her to her bedroom and tucked the shocked, silent girl into her bed, and left. "Sweet dreams, Lovi~!" He sang as he skipped out the door.

Sitting there in the dark, Lovina laid, calm, until she remembered something. Now recovered from the ahoge-pull, she cursed. "Shit! I forgot my water!"

/x/

A fanfiction with Lovina in it would never be complete without the ahoge thing! =0 Its like a requirement! Haha.

Hostile Silence drew Felicia! ^_^ There is no expression to explain the deep gratitude/ joy I'm feeling at this moment. I hope she doesn't care that I'm putting this link to it!

http :/ browse. deviantart

.com/?order=5&q=princess%20felicia#/d2rrz9n


	7. Chapter 7

Lovina woke up early the next morning to a very loud sound, which was _right beside her bed._ She was startled a high extent.

Jumping in surprise, Lovina accidentally fell out of bed and landed on someone's foot. "Ah!" she yelped.

"Ow!" Someone complained, as they brought their hand to their pained foot, completely forgetting that they'd been holding a guitar. Said musical instrument went sailing down and hit Lovina on the head with a loud _thump._ Her face snapped up to give a scalding glare to the person responsible for this.

The flames in her hazel eyes were almost visible. "ANTONIO!"

"Hola, Lovi! I wanted to sing you awake, but since you're already up~" the Spaniard laughed.

"Don't give me that crap! What the hell, bastard?" She rubbed the guitar-shaped bump on her temple that was appearing.

"Hey guess what~? Next week's my birthday!" He smiled, as if this would be very important news to her. She continued to glare at him, irritated. Antonio's shirt was unbuttoned, and his pants weren't zipped. His chestnut hair was messy and hectic on one side, but flat on the other, proving that he'd only recently woken up himself. His emerald eyes shined like a child's. He had come to her bedroom early in the morning to sing her awake dressed like that? Either way, he looked good this way.

She shook it off. No matter _how_ hot the dense prince was, she still shouldn't let him get away with this. "…That doesn't answer my question, bastard. _Why_ are you in my room?"

He shrugged. "Because I know where it is now?" He leaned down to smother her in a hug. Her face grew warm enough to the extent that she could probably cook her breakfast on it. Didn't he know that he was hardly what could be qualified as dressed?

"B-bastard, your shirt's not closed! Don't hug me like that!" He didn't let go, but instead laughed at her half-hearted struggles against him. "It's not funny! Don't hug me when you're not decent, you dumba-"

She silenced when she saw the hurt look on his face. Antonio wasn't really looking at _her,_ but at her forehead. He was looking at the swelling red mass on her head. He was no longer clinging to her body, but loosely held it with his own. His face was stunned, and he made no movements.

"H-hey! Are you okay? Bastard?" It was really beginning to disturb her that this man, who never shut up, was frozen. It was like he was made of stone. "A-antonio…?"

When she said his name, he snapped out of it immediately, crying many words in Spanish that sounded like apologies. In a bone-crushing hug, eventually the Spanish melted back into the usual language they spoke. "Aw! You said my name! OhgodLoviI'msosorryIwon'tdoitagain! Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysor-"

Finally Lovina couldn't take his apologies anymore. "Shut up! Okay, okay, I forgive you! Don't expect me to again! I was worried, damnit!"

"Aww I ! Doyouloveme-" _Whap_! She hit him. "Oww~! Hey, what was that for?" He pouted, with a puppy-doggish look on his face.

"Stop talking so fast! It's annoying when I can barely understand what you're saying, especially when you're asking the number one _most _obvious thing-" She gasped, not believing what she'd just given away. "…in the world."

Lovina sat, trying to ignore the 'hooplah's and the fact that a Spanish prince was dancing around her room to the tune of 'la cucaracha'. She hoped it wasn't obvious that inside, she was doing the very same.

/

Throwing down the newspaper, Sadiq was outraged. The Princess Felicia was to marry Prince Antonio? That meant that she would inherit the kingdom! Even after he'd gone through all the work of acquiring a pedigree, which meant that there was an _older, male_ heir?

Women shouldn't be allowed to rule _anything_, other than the things that they used to bake and clean house!

There was no way he'd let this happen! "Servant! Ready my horses! I'm going to visit _daddy."_ The word _daddy _in a spiteful tone of voice, he chuckled, smug. "I'm staging my takeover." He yanked on his mask, sheathed his sword, and turned toward the darker parts of the windowless hall he walked down.

/

Felicia had completely enjoyed spending the night on Keiko's floor, even if it _was _a really small apartment, and the floors were made from some unfamiliar material. She'd slept in the livingroom, surrounded by what seemed to be at least one hundred fluffy cats. Last night, while she'd still been wide awake, a blond cat had come to her lap. "Aww! How cuuuute!" She squealed as she picked it up. "You remind me of…Ludwig…" she murmured to it, now wishing she was with him, and wondering if he was thinking of her. That was when she'd decided it; she was going to see him the next morning.

Right now, it was about an hour after Keiko left for the palace to go to work, and Heracles had yet to wake up.

She had carefully disguised herself, wearing a large pair of sunglasses, and now going to pick out one of the many wigs Keiko kept in her closet. Why would she need so many of these, anyway? Her hair was gorgeous. Truthfully, Felicia had never seen her wear _one_ of these. Staring at the collection, she went through them carefully. The orange one was too close to her original haircolor. This blue pigtailed one was too unrealistic. She picked up a chocolate colored one with an attached yellow headband that had twin ribbons on the sides. Perfect. Felicia placed the selection on her head, and quietly slipped out the door. Soon, she and Ludwig would be together.

/x/

Guess why Keiko has so many wigs? Haha, I love the idea of Fem!Japan cosplaying Miku or Haruhi =) The thought of Felicia wearing them makes me laugh too.

Enter Sadiq, Romulus's Fourth child!

When I was watching England vs. Algeria today, I was playing 'absolutely invincible English gentleman' in support for him. Just at the time when the little fact bubble popped onto the screen that said "17 of Algeria's team was born in France" The part of the song that says "From the cradle, to the grave" came up. 0_o I guess Iggy has anger issues against French Algerians?


	8. Chapter 8

Dear readers;

I'm completely sorry for this, but my computer at home broke… meaning that I have to type all of these at the library's computer, and I dunno how long the librarians will let me get on these at a time, nor do I know how often my mom will let me go to the library before she gets suspicious.

This means that updates will take long times in between. Sorry! I'll do my best to update as often as I can!

~ Minosu~


	9. Chapter 9

Nervously looking at the sun's position in the sky, Felicia was worried that Ludwig would go out to his lunch break too early and miss her when she came for her surprise visit, making her entire voyage pointless. She skuttled as fast as possible to the back doors of the dress shop, where he would exit when the time came for lunch.

Felicia knew that coming to the place was risky, but her desire to see Ludwig was overwhelming, and Felicia had never been good at resisting her whims. Finally arriving at the brick alley behind the shop, she sat on an empty crate, gripping the torn piece of his sleeve from before. She squeezed it so hard, that she was sure it would have wrinkles that would never iron out.

She really wasn't used to doing things like this that presented so much danger. What if he really had already gone? What if Francis came out and found her before Ludwig got back? What if the guy who owned the gun store next door thought she was tresspassing and shot her?

All unpleasant outcomes cast aside, Felicia waited anxiously. Ludwig was like her life jacket in an unfamiliar pond of commonpeople, and she really needed his support. She felt as if he was the only real friend she had, besides Keiko.

She heard the door click. Felicia jumped a bit at the noise, which caused the crate she was sitting on to collapse.

"Oh!" She gasped as she found herself on her back, broken wood beneath her. A hand was on her shoulder, helping her up rigidly.

"Miss, do you need assistance? Go to the front. A voice pushed her closer to the main area.

"Nooo! Ludwig!" He stoped pushing, and looked at the stranger as she hugged him. Ludwig was cranky from having no sleep the previous night, wanted his lunch badly, and was barely capable of keeping himself from snapping.

"How do you know my….?" He asked, holding a cross that he wore around his neck suspiciously. "Bruder, if you've dressed as a woman again, I swear to god…! It is in no way funny!" He boomed.

"Silly Ludwig, it's me, see?" She gave him the ripped cuff she'd taken (and wrinkled) with her when she was taken by Francis. "Ve~ I didn't know you had a brother. How old is he?"

The look on his face was disbelief. "How did you get this?" he continued, not lowering his voice.

Felicia was so confused by his not recognizing her that she actually opened her eyes, an uncommon phenomena. When she did, she saw the brown framing her face. That wasn't right! Her hair was orange! She then remembered the wig she had borrowed from Keiko. "Ludwiiig!" she whined as she slid it off of her ginger hair.

Ludwig's expression now read that he was dumbfounded. "But… Felicia left! She ran off! Why are you here?" he thundered.

She felt like crying. "You're mad at me!" A confused, tired, flustered Ludwig couldn't find words fast enough for her. "F-fine, t-then I'm mad at you too!"

He could only watch as she ran from the narrow alley, forgetting her wig entirely. Only as she got too far to catch did he realize that she was _leaving_. He took off after her, not to catch her, but to see where she was heading so he could know where to return her wig later. (He would not allow for the term "stalking") She wouldn't want too see him just now, anyway, right?

/

Lovina was eating lunch. With Antonio. Who kept talking with his mouth full. In the most gross way imagineable.

Usually, she loved her Caesar Salad as much as she loved the tomatoes that were such a big ingredient in it, but Antonio's bad table manners made it unenjoyable.

"Goddamnit! Close your mouth when you chew, bastard! Did your mother not teach you anything?"

Antonio laughed, still not having swallowed his mouthful of lettuce. "Guess not!" he turned semi-serious for a moment. "But, then again, it would've been the nurse to teach me things like that."

Lovina mentally slapped herself. She was supposed to be acting royal. Royal girls would know about nurses. Really, she didn't understand how a mother, even a royal one, could leave it to someone else to raise her children. She felt the same way about her father.

Suddlenly, the door opened. Speak of the devil himself! He had someone with him, whom he had his arm around. Smiling proudly, Romulus introduced the young man to Lovina in a sing-song voice. "Feli, this is your brother, Sadiq~!" King Romulus said this as if it were no big deal that she was now meeting someone of close blood relation to her for the first time.

"Hello, miss Felicia. It'll be a pleasure knowing you." Her brother said, bowing his head. Lovina almost joyfully noted that the stupid smile that she'd seen on all the people around this castle was absent on his face. Finally, another normal one!

Playing her part as the princess, she bowed her head in return. "yeah, it'll be interesting."

/x/

I felt so depressed when I had to write Felicia getting upset! I guess its all part of "be one with the character". Don't worry, she won't be depressed for long.

I _really _want to write Gilbert crossdressing for the sake of randomness! The thought of it alone is glorious.


	10. Chapter 10

"Hahaha! Infiltration complete! Now, to get rid of the obstacle in the way of my supremacy… that annoying little sister!" Sadiq was shown his suite only a minute or two earlier, and was making himself comfortable in a blue velvet chair laying in the streams of sunlight filtering in from an oversized window. He slid off his mask, to reveal his haunting cyan blue eyes, the eyes of his commoner mother.

Sadiq knew how lucky he was that no one in this unassuming kingdom knew of the small desert kingdom to the far east that he called home, the one where only a few years ago a commoner boy had overthrown the royals and taken dictatorship.

A maid knocked at the door, startling him. He quickly replaced the mask upon his face. "Come in, babe. Heh. Don't be shy."

A cute brunette servant entered. (He'd heard someone say her name around… Elisabeth? Lizzie?) "Prince Sadiq, tea?" she asked, coming in with a huge silver platter.

"Yep, bring 'er here." He chuckled. As she bent over to set the platter on a table near him, he lifted up her dress and smacked her rear. With a startling yelp, she jumped, spilling the tea a bit as she hurriedly dashed out of the room. He heard her long string of curse words from outside the door.

He laughed, at her weak female-ness, and her inability to do anything about being harassed that way, at her helplessness in opposing him. Someone with his status could do anything they wanted to her, and if she said 'no', she would be in trouble. It was all too sweet.

"Hahaaa it's good to be king!" He shouted victoriously in the empty room.

Little did he know, that there were _two_ potty-mouthed women standing outside the door who had witnessed the entire thing.

/

The very second Felicia got back to Keiko's house, she wanted to clean. When she was upset, she had always begun cleaning, proverbially sweeping the mess out of her life. Normally, Felicia acted like a bit of a slob, but back in the castle, she was well-known to help Elizabeta when she had too much on her workpile.

She searched every inch of the tiny apartment for something to tidy up, and her efforts went fruitless. The only messy areas in Keiko's house were her bed, where the sheets were in a huge jumble around a still-sleeping Greek that Felicia dared not touch, and the mess she had made herself that morning in Keiko's closet.

As she took the small job, she remembered… she had left the wig with Ludwig.

/

Ludwig was in need of assistance. He really hadn't meant to make Felicia so upset… he hadn't even known it was her until she was leaving, for crying out loud! He approached the bookstore. When he was little, his grandfather, Fredrick, had told him that any problem could be solved with a book. The advice had held true. Books helped when his brother had a very bad infection, and no one knew what to do to ease the pain. Books had helped when Ludwig needed to learn a new language. Even Gilbert agreed, because after grandpa died, books of the stolen variety helped pay the rent. Books truly had helped with everything.

He finally was in front of the bookstore. Just his luck, it was closed. After two years or so in this town, he had found this book to be the most useful. However, there was one _other _place he could go, but only if he felt as if he were cornered into the most desparate of situations.

As Ludwig made his way to this place, he decided that this qualified as one.

He knocked on the door. Some of the old, chipping blue paint came back on his hand. The door clicked as someone on the other side unlocked the knob. "Yo, whazzup?" It opened, creaking loudly as the owner of the residence recognized his visitor. "West! Mein Gott, how are you?" His albino brother squeezed him in a fraternal embrace. "Haven't seen you in waaay too long! Where've you been the last three months?"

"Hello, Bruder..."

"Have you gotten taller? Damn, Luddy, you have to stop growing! You're already taller than the awesome me!" he pouted, all the while somehow still smirking.

"I'm… I want your help. Do you still work for the undercover agency?"

Gilbert burst out laughing, as if this were some sort of anecdote. "Hell no! I got fired for 'disorderly conduct'. Pssh. Its just that those sissies don't know how to take an awesome joke." Ludwig guessed that Gilbert had crossdressed and flirted with the other men, too. What was truly pitiful was that it was his brother easily passed for female after having access to the Undercover Agency's disguise closet, where he had obtained makeup, a golden blonde wig, and a lacy pink dress that made men's faces melt into a firey blush. Ludwig wasn't sure he would ever get over his brother messing with him like that.

Silently, Ludwig 'hallelujah'-ed. On the other hand, his plan to have his brother spy on Felicia and see how angry she might be with him, then find the best way to apologize. "Where do you work now, then?"

"Castle. I'm a knight! " Gilbert beamed, obviously proud of himself. Ludwig knew full well that it was his older brother's childhood dream to be a knight. "So, what were you here for?"

He shoved aside his embarrassment and asked what he came for. "I-I need advice… about a girl."

/x/

More fanart! :DDDDDD by Pecore-nere. I'll try to put a direct link. In case that doesn't work, here's the url. Pleeeease let me know if the direct link works or not?

Direct link; .com/?qh=§ion=&global=1&q=princess+italia#/d2tczej

Link where you have to remove the spaces;

http : / browse . deviantart . com / ? qh = & section = & global = 1 & q = princess +i talia # / d 2 tczej


	11. Chapter 11

Stepping into the shabby home, Gilbert started conversation. "Bahaha! I knew you'd come to the awesome me for girl problems eventually! Who's the lucky chick?" As if on cue, Gilbird popped out of Gilbert's shirt.

_ Wait... _Ludwig thought _wouldn't it have gotten crushed when he hugged me? _Shaking this off, he spoke, all business. "Princess Felicia Vargas."

Gilbert laughed. "Haha. Seriously, who is she?"

Ludwig, getting agitated by this point, gave him a cold, hard look, face filled with a red tint.

His older brother's face visibly aged, no longer laughing. "W-w-what the heck, West? Got love for treason? She's the goddamn _princess_! You know, you could get arrested or worse for something like that! And that would be totally unawesome!" Despite how cool or menacing Gil could be, he always had his weak spot... his little brother. The one whom Gilbert prefered _alive._ "Does she even know you exist?"

Averting his eyes, Ludwig's face softened. "Yes... long story. But I do like her, and I've upset her. What should l do?"

The albino himself had never had too much luck with girls, but he'd never let his brother know that; he wanted to be looked up to. Now that Luddy needed him, Gil would make this up as he went along. "O-kaaaay... So, what you do is... cook for her! Women love that romantic shit, and make the best dish you know. I've heard that the Princess loves food."

"Bruder, you know I'm not useful in the kitchen..."

"So go to that bookstore of yours for a cookbook or something. Or buy some. Or, better yet, ask Francis! Ol' Frenchie'll prolly cook it _for_ you. " GIlbert pondered and planned. "No, wait... screw him, it's better you do it yourself. Oh, and get her something like a stuffed animal... she'll be all yours" He snickered with a wave of his hand. "While at work I'll keep an ear open, 'kay? Those maids always have something to talk about~. Of course, it's usually the the epic Gilbert." He said, winking.

Ludwig released a rare smile. His brother wasn't useful for much, but planning things that were technically illegal was something he knew he could always count on Gilbert for.

/

Lovina glared out the carriage window. She couldn't believe that the only non-idiot in the castle happened to be a perverted seditious jerk. Nevertheless, she had to take him on a tour of their kingdom today. The one that that bastard wanted to overthrow. Ugh, she hated life. Even more to her irritation, Antonio insisted on coming too. These idiots were all against her.

Sadiq chuckled.

She turned tward him ragefully. "Something funny, bas-" Lovina cut herself off; her Felicia act was getting rusty from disuse. "B-bass sounds good for dinner tonight! How funny!"

From beside her, Antonio cracked up. "But don't you hate fish, Lov-" She elbowed him in the side, effectively quieting him.

"Mere _fish_ doesn't sound good enough for my introductory dinner." He scoffed.

"You're right. Ve, brother?" She was out to expose, dammit! She had heard what he'd said, and though she didn't know exactly what it meant, she knew she didn't like it.

Sadiq rolled his eyes before craning his neck to look upon the girl he thought to be a stupid annoyance. "What is it, little sister?" He said, thinly candycoating his dislike for her.

"Why do you always wear a mask? It makes you look scaryyy, ve." She pouted, avoiding slapping Antonio's hand when he tried to pinch her cheek.

No matter how badly Sadiq wanted to say "suck it up, loser", he had to be polite. "I don't know..." Raising his eyebrow, he silently thought. _To conceal the face of a famous dictator._

"I wanna see!" She lunged forward, a look on her face that was more determined than curious.

"NO!" He yelled, defensively jerking out of her range of reach.

With an act of biwilderment playing on her face, Lovina decided to let this go... for now. _Damn, I wanna see what's behind there! _She though suspiciously, as she leaned her head on Antonio's shoulder as the carriage stopped in the center of town. (B-but it was just because she was tired, dammit!)

/

Felicia's throat was feeling numb from crying earlier. She was letting her feelings out on a nearby cat, with gingery hair that was soft as snow. She didn't notice until too late that she was pressing on it too hard with the palm of her hand until Keiko opened the door, watching in horror as her cat darted through the open escape route. Feli jumped to her feet, running after it with all her might, into the dirty streets, not caring that she was barefoot.

Feli didn't care that her hair was a mess, she didn't care that she smelled very strange (a mix of tomato sauce and a salty fish dish that Keiko had made the night before), she didn't care about anything that she'd previously cared about when she'd lived in the castle; at that moment, it was just a blond shoemaker and a stray cat.

/x/

Very sorry for the accidental haitus; It's just that I put this off, and then thought about typing it, and then procrastinated. The chapter's finally up, but the last thing I posted was in June u_u Feel free to bite my head off, as I've probably messed up on the chronology of events happening in this story. I won't let another haitus happen here.


End file.
